Posts under ‘CNNMoney.com’

The internet is going gaga over Royal Dutch Shell’s new “Sky” scenario, which discusses the impact on the energy industry of efforts to limit climate change. Many treat the existence of such a scenario developed by a major oil company as evidence that a) an important oil industry player expects this to happen, b) projections of a severe climate policy future are validated.

Writing as an aged methane emission, this is not really new. In the 1990s, Shell was cited by many environmental advocates for appearing to have sided with them. As Curtis and Romm said in 1996, “Imagine another world in which fossil-fuel use had begun a slow, steady decline; more than a third of the market for new electricity generation was supplied from renewable sources; the renewables industry had annual sales of $150 billion; and the fastest-growing new source of power was solar energy. An environmentalist’s fantasy, right? No, that’s one of two planning scenarios for three to four decades from now, developed by Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the world’s most profitable oil company, which is widely viewed as a bench mark for strategic planning.” read more

(CNN)The widow of one of the nine environmental campaigners who were executed by the Nigerian military government has won a 22-year battle to bring oil giant Shell to court.

Esther Kiobel filed a civil suit early Wednesday in the Netherlands where Shell is registered and has its headquarters, her lawyer told CNN.
According to the writ, seen by CNN, Kiobel accuses Shell of complicity in the unlawful arrest and detention of her husband, Dr. Barinem Kiobel; the violation of his personal integrity and the violation of his right to a fair trial.
Kiobel first filed a case in New York against Shell in 2002 alleging complicity in the execution of the nine human rights activists.
However, in 2013, the US Supreme Court ruled that the United States did not have jurisdiction to try the case.

Condemnation

The 1995 execution of Nigerian playwright Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other human rights activists (including Kiobel’s husband) campaigning against environmental degradation of their native Ogoni land caused worldwide condemnation.
Saro-Wiwa came into conflict with the ruling junta when he campaigned for the Ogoni people living in Nigeria’s oil basin in the South.
The popular playwright criticized Sani Abacha’s military government and the powerful oil industry, charging that it had polluted and destroyed the region’s land and wildlife.
The men would later come to be known as the Ogoni 9 following their executions.
Saro-Wiwa and the eight others put to death were charged with murdering four men. They were convicted and sentenced to death at a special tribunal. Throughout, Saro-Wiwa maintained that he was being framed for criticizing Abacha’s regime.
Abacha ignored pleas for clemency for the men from world leaders including then US President Bill Clinton.
Nigeria was promptly kicked out of the Commonwealth of nations — an organization made up of 52 countries that were part of the British Empire — following the executions.
In 2009, Shell paid out $15.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the now late son of the deceased Ken Saro-Wiwa Jr. and others including the deceased’s brother.
The suit had accused the global oil conglomerate of complicity in the imprisonment, rights violation and ultimately, death of Ken Saro-Wiwa and the eight others.
The case took 13 years to reach settlement and Shell denied wrongdoing but said it was making the payment on humanitarian grounds according to a statement published in the New York Times.

Long struggle

Kiobel was not a plaintiff in that suit. She and three other widows have been assisted in their long-running struggle by human rights group, Amnesty International — a first for the organization.
“It is one of our more remarkable cases. It is very difficult to find lawyers and courts willing to take these cases,” says Audrey Gaughran, acting Senior Director of Research, Amnesty International, in a phone interview with CNN.
Gaughran remains hopeful that with the evidence gathered over the years and the location of the case, the judgment will be in the claimants’ favor.
“We think Mrs. Kiobel has a strong case… we believe that Shell is complicit in the execution of her husband, Ken Saro-Wiwa and the other men who were executed in 1995. We are optimistic that the court will ultimately see the same argument.”

Positive outcome

Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) of Nigeria Limited, through its spokesperson, Precious Okolobo said in an email to CNN:
“SPDC did not collude with the authorities to suppress community unrest and in no way encouraged or advocated any act of violence in Nigeria.
“The executions of Ken Saro-Wiwa and his fellow Ogonis in 1995 were tragic events that were carried out by the military government in power at the time.
“We were shocked and saddened when we heard the news of the executions. SPDC appealed to the Nigerian government to grant clemency. To our deep regret, that appeal, and the appeals made by many others within and outside Nigeria, went unheard.”
Kiobel’s lawyer, Channa Samkalden is circumspect about a positive outcome.
“It will be a difficult case, but it is also a very important one. The evidence shows how deeply involved Shell was in the activities leading to the death of the ‘Ogoni 9.’
“The fact that a court will assess that evidence and hold Shell to account will already bring some satisfaction,” she said in an email interview.

Environmental campaigners have begun a month of protests over oil giant Shell’s efforts to drill in the Arctic with a Titanic-themed orchestral performance.

Greenpeace is holding protests outside Shell’s London headquarters against the company’s attempts to undertake oil drilling in the Arctic, which the campaigners warn could lead to environmental disaster and worsen climate change.

The protests began with a performance of Requiem for Arctic Ice, an orchestral piece inspired by the famous story of the musicians continuing to play as the Titanic sank after it hit an iceberg, by the Crystal Palace Quartet and supporting musicians.read more

Shell’s former chair calls fossil fuel divestment ‘rational’

The former chairman of Royal Dutch Shell said selling oil stocks is a “rational” response to the failure of the oil industry to take meaningful action on climate change.

He is the latest to lend support to the growing campaign for investors to dump shares of fossil fuel companies.

“Divestment is a rational approach,” Mark Moody-Stuart was quoted by the Guardian as saying during a recent dinner in London. “If you think your money can be used somewhere else, you should switch it. Selective divestment or portfolio-switching is actually what investors should be doing.”read more

Guardian article by Julia Finch published 7 April 2015

Shell launches agreed £47bn bid for UK gas producer BG Group

BG confirmed on Wednesday that it was offering a cash and shares deal worth £13.67 a share – a 50% premium on BG’s market value on Tuesday night, when news of the deal first leaked.

Ben van Beurden, chief executive of Shell, said: “Bold, strategic moves shape our industry. BG and Shell are a great fit. This transaction fits with our strategy and our read on the industry landscape around us.”

Shell chairman, Jorma Ollila, said the deal was an important one for Shell: “The result will be a more competitive, stronger company for both sets of shareholders in today’s volatile oil price world.”read more

CNNMoney (New York) March 16, 2015: 5:39 PM ET

Extremely cheap oil is back, and it may get even cheaper. Crude plunged 4% to as low as $42.85 a barrel on Monday. That’s the lowest price since March 2009 and marks the fifth consecutive day of losses.

EXTRACTS

A month ago, people were talking about an “oil comeback.” Now that looks like ust a mirage. More and more analysts predict prices of $40 or lower, at least in the near term.

“I think the market almost has to have a $30-handle on it before it gets this out of its system,” said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.

That could cause gas prices to take another tumble, Kloza says, bringing the average U.S. price back to around $2 a gallon. It’s currently at $2.42.read more

Esther Kiobel of Kiobel-v-Shell fame speaking at an Amnesty International Event

By John Donovan

Amnesty International published an article in April 2014 revealing that the British government had intervened on the side of Royal Dutch Shell in the Kiobel-v-Shell case before the U.S. Supreme Court and had done so after being lobbied by Shell. A related document obtained in response to a Freedom of Information request confirmed that the Dutch government joined Shell in the representations made to the U.S. Supreme Court. Seems safe to assume that Shell also made representations to the Dutch government. read more

Last year, Shell held the number one spot on the Fortune Global 500 list and was pushing to drill in the Arctic. This past March, the U.S. government blocked the company from drilling until it can provide a more convincing plan for exploring the region. The company has also paused another risky endeavor — one of its pipelines in Nigeria that caught fire this summer. Shell shut it down andÂ began investigating the cause of the fire in late June.

Shell, however, remains strong. Its earnings for the first quarter of 2013 beat analyst expectations. Despite problems with certain drilling projects, the company continues to rake in money from various assets, one of which is its profitable Pearl gas-to-liquid plant in Qatar.read more

With a $130 billion market cap, and billions of dollars in unknown liabilities, BP is still one big toxic mess.

Why BP is not a takeover target

By Cyrus Sanati: November 26, 2012: 9:35 AM ET

FORTUNE — It’s one of the largest companies in the world. Could it really be a takeover target?

Some in the industry see BP as fresh deal meat following the company’s long-awaited settlement with U.S. authorities in connection with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. But while such a mega-merger may make Wall Street bankers salivate, even after selling off billions of dollars in assets, BP simply remains too big and too risky to buy. Specialization is the name of the game these days in the oil patch. BP would need to break up into more manageable pieces before any oil major would consider opening its wallet.read more

(CNN) — Four Nigerian farmers and the environmental group Friends of the Earth took oil giant Shell to court Thursday in the Netherlands to demand a proper cleanup and compensation for pollution in the Niger Delta.

The farmers want the Anglo-Dutch multinational to “clean up the oil pollution in their fields and fishponds” and make sure their pipelines are maintained and kept secure to prevent leaks in the future.

The civil case has been filed against the Nigerian subsidiary of Shell, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), and its international headquarters in the Netherlands, Royal Dutch Shell.read more

(CNN) — An argument before the Supreme Court on October 1 in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum will have enormous significance. The case concerns the torture of Ogoni leaders in Nigeria, but at stake is the future of the law under which this case was brought, the Alien Tort Statute.

The United States stands at a crossroads. At its best, our nation has played a crucial role in championing human rights throughout the world and pioneering human rights law. At its worst, it has abandoned its lofty ideals in the name of realpolitik and supported dictators and policies that were responsible for horrible abuses.read more

FROM OUR AUGUST 2004 SHELL NEWS ARCHIVE

CNN: Shell settles fraud case for $150M

Oil company agrees to pay SEC for overstating reserves, also settles market abuse case in Britain.

August 24, 2004

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – Royal Dutch/Shell has agreed to pay about $150 million to settle charges by U.S. and British regulators that it vastly overstated oil reserves.

Under the settlement, Shell has also agreed to commit another $5 million to establish an internal compliance program under the direction and oversight of the company’s legal director, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement.

The company units cited by the SEC, Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport, neither admitted to or denied any wrongdoing, the commission said.read more

Shell Oil’s multibillion dollar Arctic hoax

Editor’s note: Travis Nichols is a polar and oceans media officer with Greenpeace USA. He collaborated with the Yes Lab and Occupy Seattle on the ArcticReady.com website and the #shellFAIL video campaign. He is the author of “Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder” (Coffee House Press) and “See Me Improving” (Copper Canyon Press).

(CNN) — A recent CNN.com op-ed asked “Was the Shell Oil hoax ethical?” We at Greenpeace, along with the activist group Yes Men, are behind the Shell Oil website ArcticReady.com, which we created to call attention to the company’s Arctic destruction. So we were intrigued by this question.read more

Editor’s note:Bob Reiss, a former reporter at the Chicago Tribune, is the author of 18 books, including the just published, “The Eskimo and the Oil Man.” He can be seen this week on CNN as part of the “Erin Burnett OutFront” series on the Arctic at 7 pm ET.

(CNN) — Most Americans think of the Arctic as an icy, distant place; beautiful, remote and teeming with wildlife, but unrelated to their daily lives. Nothing could be further from the truth.

This summer, big doings on America’s northern doorstep will have enormous consequences to the economic, strategic and environmental future of the nation. Yet we are unprepared for the challenges and opportunities.read more

(CNN) — One of the ships that Shell Oil plans to use to drill in the Arctic slipped its mooring and drifted close to one of Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, the latest in a string of incidents to arise around the controversial project.

The Noble Discoverer was about 175 yards from shore in Unalaska Bay when it slipped its mooring Saturday and drifted towards shore near Dutch Harbor, Coast Guard Petty Officer Sara Francis said.

“There are no reports of injuries, pollution and damage to the Noble Discoverer,” she said Sunday night.read more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Greenpeace plans on deploying two submarines to keep tabs on Royal Dutch Shell when the oil company starts drilling in the Arctic, which could begin as soon as next month.

The subs, a two-person and a one-person craft, are currently on board the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, docked in Seattle.

The Esperanza plans on tailing Shell’s drilling fleet, also docked in Seattle, when the fleet leaves for Arctic waters. Shell is waiting for the last batch of federal permits, expected any day, before deploying its ships.read more

Western Cape, South Africa (CNN) — South Africa has an energy deficit on its hands. Too many people want fuel for their cars and electricity for their homes, and the country is struggling to keep up with demand.

To help ease this perceived crisis the big companies want to start drilling for natural gas using a controversial drilling technique called fracking. Under the plans the drilling will be done in one of the most remote and beautiful places in South Africa, the Karoo.read more

Oil industry executives appearing Tuesday at the World Petroleum Congress in Doha, Qatar.

DOHA, Qatar (CNNMoney) — Just three years after fears of an energy supply shortage, executives of the world’s leading oil companies now foresee a bonanza of oil and natural gas on the horizon.

In 2008, concern that a rapidly developing world was eating through all its energy supplies helped push prices to record levels, with oil hitting $147 a barrel and natural gas topping $15 per million cubic feet.read more

Splitting up energy giants may make sense while oil prices are as high as they are today, but it may not be worth the organizational headache for Big Oil to break apart.

FORTUNE — Big Oil may be going out of style, but it is certainly not going away.

With major players like ConocoPhillips (COP) and Marathon (MRO) splitting up, industry leaders and the market are starting to question the model of the huge, integrated oil company that handles every portion of the business, from plumbing crude out of the ground to selling it at the gas tank.

But just because the Big Oil’s big business model is being questioned — and rightfully so — doesn’t mean it’s going anywhere.read more

When Tony Hayward took over BP in 2007 - after the oil giant had experienced a series of calamitous accidents - he vowed that safety would be his top priority. So how did he come to preside over one of the worst industrial disasters in history? A Fortune investigation reveals a saga of hubris, ambition, and a safety philosophy that focused too much on spilled coffee and not enough on drilling disasters.

FORTUNE — Slowly but surely, the energy landscape in America and around the globe is changing. Crude is still king, but oil and gas companies are increasingly folding in more and different assets.

Shell (RDSA), for example, has purchased and developed tons of natural gas assets, even though the commodity sells for cheap in the current market. To get some insight into Big Oil’s strategy for the future of energy, Fortune spoke with President of Shell Oil Company, Marvin Odum. Odum filled us in on the long-term natural gas outlook, drilling in the Gulf after BP (BP) muddied the industry’s reputation and why Shell feels like oil sands are cleaner than you think.read more

Worker: “I cannot count the number of people who have died in explosions”

Nigeria is major oil exporter, but most in Niger Delta live on less than $2 a day

Shell managing director estimates around 100,000 barrels stolen a day

Niger Delta, Nigeria (CNN) — The young man, his body glistening with black oil and sweat, poured more oil onto the fire. The flames roared, heating two barrels of oil to explosive temperatures. He escaped to a safer distance, a slight smile breaking his grim face ­– he had survived.

“This job is very dangerous,” he explains, asking to remain anonymous. “The smoke, the heat ­– I cannot count the number of people who have died in explosions because they cannot escape the flames.”read more

But occurring over the 50 years since oil production began in the Delta, this environmental disaster has never received the attention that is now being paid to the oil-spill catastrophe hitting the U.S. Gulf coast.

“The whole world is trembling and even the president of America had to do a personal visit to the site. The U.S. will have put serious measures in place to stop such situations happening in the future,” said Ken Tebe — a local environmental activist who is visibly shaken by what he regards as a double standard.read more

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — BP’s stock price has fallen far enough for the oil company to become an attractive takeover target for its biggest rivals, according to industry analysts.

BP’s (BP) stock finished at $28.88 Wednesday, a plunge of more than 50% from its close of $60.09 on April 19, the day before its leased oil rig, the Deepwater Horizon, exploded and sank in the Gulf of Mexico.read more

Essar, which plans to have a refining capacity of one million barrels a day, is in talks to buy three European refineries from Royal Dutch Shell PLC. In July, Essar acquired a 50% stake in 80,000-barrel-a-day Mombasa- based Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd. from Shell, Chevron Corp. and BP PLC.

Shell Announces Disaster Relief Support for Haiti

HOUSTON, Jan. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Shell Oil Company and Motiva Enterprises, LLC are donating $100,000 to the American Red Cross to aid in disaster relief and recovery efforts in Haiti.

“This is a trying time for Haiti and a chance for the rest of the world to lend a hand to those in need,” says Marvin Odum, president of Shell Oil Company. “Shell has a long track record of supporting disaster relief efforts. The people of Haiti are in our thoughts and prayers.”read more

BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA.LN) is no longer involved in talks on joining China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (SNP), known as Sinopec, and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. in a major refinery project in China, opening the way to other international oil companies to join the venture.

CNNMoney/Fortune Magazine

Peter Voser, head of the world’s largest oil company, is shaking things up.

(Fortune Magazine) — Royal Dutch Shell this year has toppled Exxon Mobil from the top of the list of Fortune Global 500 companies, just as the Dutch oil company gets a new CEO. Peter Voser, 50, is a Swiss finance expert and Shell veteran who left the company in 2002 to help turn around the Swiss engineering firm ABB, and then came roaring back two years later.

Even before he took the helm on July 1, Voser signaled that Shell was in for some internal upheaval under his leadership. In late May he fired off a companywide memo complaining that costs were too high, the organization was too complex, and its culture “too consensus-oriented.”read more

Oil shot past $70 a barrel last week, meaning the cost per barrel has doubled since hitting a low in mid-February. And the swiftness of that move has plenty of observers wondering if we're headed toward another period of even more dramatic price gains. Among the oil insiders worried about such a scenario is Royal Dutch Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer, a 38-year veteran of the energy giant, who is scheduled to retire June 30...

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Sakhalin Energy, which recently started a large liquefied natural gas plant in Russia’s far east, has canceled all planned 2009 seismic surveys following pressure from environmental groups and scientists seeking to protect the habitat of the Western Gray Whale, the Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement Friday.

The WWF Russia called on other companies operating in the area -BP PLC (BP), ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) and OAO Rosneft (ROSN.RS) – to take similar action.read more

ALMATY, Kazakhstan -(Dow Jones)- Low oil prices and the economic crisis may cut costs of development at Kazakhstan’s largest oil field Kashagan, Royal Dutch Shell PLC’s (RDSA) general manager for the Caspian region said Tuesday.

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) Monday said a recent militant attack on a Nigeria oil pipeline had forced it to halt deliveries to many customers, in an indication of the worsening security situation in one of Shell's most important markets.

OTTAWA -(Dow Jones)- Project costs for a 100,000-barrel-a-day expansion at Royal Dutch Shell PLC's (RDSA) Athabasca Oil Sands Project have climbed to $13.7 billion, partner Chevron Corp.(CVX) said in a filing with the SEC.

The military tone of articles published 90 years ago in the New York Times provide insight into the depth of intense rivalry between the oil giants which sometimes descended into open warfare. The opening salvo was fired in an article published on 16 January 1928 under the dramatic headline: N.Y. STANDARD OIL DECLARES WAR UPON DUTCH SHELL GROUP.

Is Shell in Exxon's sights? A deal with Shell might be particularly sweet for Exxon's ego. The two firms have been archrivals since the early days of the oil barons, with the Anglo-Dutch Shell and John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, which spawned Exxon, going head to head in markets around the globe.

On the non-guaranteed side of the market, Shell International Finance, the financing arm of energy giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA), sold the largest deal of the day. Its 30-year issue was sold at a risk premium of 325 basis points over Treasurys, according to an investor. Shell is raising funds for general corporate purposes.

(Fortune Magazine) — Ann Pickard’s title sounds normal enough – she’s regional executive vice president in Africa for Royal Dutch Shell’s exploration and production division. But there’s nothing normal whatsoever about Pickard’s job. Indeed, as Shell’s top official in Nigeria, Pickard may well hold the most dangerous executive post within the oil industry.

A 53-year-old Wyoming native who helped organize battered women’s shelters before entering the energy biz in the late 1980s – “making $7,000 a year doesn’t quite cut it,” she says of her former life – Pickard is the first woman to run Shell’s African operation. She talks a lot about reducing accidents, and by accidents, she’s not talking about the industrial variety.read more

"Exxon got criticized for underinvesting over the last four years," said Fadel Gheit, a senior energy analyst at Oppenheimer. "It's not that they were stupid, it's just that they thought it was too expensive. Now Exxon is going to laugh all the way to the bank."

Norway's giant Ormen Lange gas field is now producing gas from six wells, after three new wells were brought online earlier this month, a spokeswoman for operator Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) said Friday.

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Ben van Beurden Breaking News

Kremlin Asks Interpol To Help Find Alleged CIA Mole13 Sep 2019 15:28Daily CallerRussia’s foreign ministry on Thursday asked Interpol, the international policing agency, for help to find a Russian government official rumored to be a CIA mole. The Russian government issued the request regarding Oleg Smolenkov, a mid-tier Kremlin …

Kremlin Downplays Role Of Former Official Rumored To Be CIA Mole11 Sep 2019 03:05Daily CallerThe Kremlin’s top spokesman confirmed Tuesday that a man rumored in the Russian press to be a longtime CIA asset worked in the Russian government, but in a low-level position. Dmitry Peskov fielded inquiries about Oleg Smolenkov, who Russian media outlets …

Why Shares of Royal Dutch Shell Fell More Than 10% in August05 Sep 2019 03:29The Motley FoolWhat happened
Shares of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS-A)(NYSE:RDS-B) fell more than 10% in August, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence. Shell has two classes of American depositary receipts (ADR) shares that trade on the New York …

New York Times drops sponsorship of oil conference03 Sep 2019 05:39The GuardianThe New York Times has scrapped plans to sponsor one of the world’s biggest oil industry conferences after pressure from climate campaigners including Extinction Rebellion.
There were protests outside the newspaper’s offices in Manhattan this month over …

The Most Amazing Quote From BP's Q2 Earnings Call15 Aug 2019 00:42The Motley FoolWhen you think of big oil companies like BP (NYSE:BP) or ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), you might think about their service stations. Or you might think about their large refineries, or their oil wells, both on- and offshore. What you probably don't think …

500 EXTERNAL PUBLICATIONS CITING OUR WEBSITES

See our link list of 477 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission websiteetc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of 64 books also containing references to our websites and/or our activities.
John Donovan, the website ownerHead-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.

DISCLAIMER

This is not a Shell website, nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell.
There are no subscription charges nor do we solicit or accept donations.

SHELL PRELUDE TO DISASTER

The links below are to a series of articles, many triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the pioneering Royal Dutch Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Mr Bill Campbell above, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects.

NAZI NAMED SHIP HIRED BY SHELL

The campaign waged on this website by John Donovan to persuade Edward Heerema to rename the worlds biggest ship, The Pieter Schelte - which he named after his late father, Pieter Schelte Heerema, a former Officer in the German Waffen-SS - has been successful. On Friday 6 February 2015, Allseas announced that it was changing the ships name, and on 9 February announced the new name - Pioneering Spirit.

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL EMPLOYEE DATA BREACH

GLOBAL NEWS COVERAGE: FEBRUARY 2010
MORE INFORMATION: Contact details for over 176,000 employees and contractors of Royal Dutch Shell reached John Donovan and some environmental and human rights groups, ostensibly from disaffected Shell staff calling for a “peaceful corporate revolution” at the company. The database, from Shell’s internal directory, contained names and telephone numbers for all the company’s work force worldwide, including some home numbers. It was supplied with a 170­ page covering note, explaining that it was being circulated by “116 concerned employees of Shell dispersed throughout the USA, the UK, and the Netherlands”, to highlight the harm done by the company’s operations in Nigeria. John Donovan brought the leak to the attention of Shell. Tests proved that the data was authentic and he destroyed the database after being informed by Mr. Richard Wiseman, the then Chief Ethics & Compliance Officer of Royal Dutch Shell Plc, that the confidential information if publicly disclosed, could put Shell employees and contractors in real danger.

SHELL’S ROLE IN NIGERIAN OPL 245 BRIBERY SCANDAL

Whatever fig leaves they might be trying to use to hide the truth, Shell and Eni paid over $1bn to a company called Malabu for the OPL 245 licence. Even though the payment was channelled through the Nigerian government, it was clear that Shell knew that the ultimate beneficiary was Dan Etete, the former minister of petroleum. Etete is the owner of Malabu, to whom he awarded the licence when he was Nigerian Minister of Petroleum.

SHELL PERSECUTION OF DR JOHN HUONG

SHELL SAKHALIN2 DEBACLE

NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.

MORE INFORMATION
Shell appeased and collaborated with the Nazis. The oil giant instructed its employees in the Netherlands to complete a form giving particulars about their descent, which for some, amounted to a self-declared death warrant. Shell used slave labor and was a close business partner in Germany of I.G. Farben, the notorious Nazi run chemical giant that also used slave labor and supplied the Zyklon-B gas used during the Holocaust to exterminate millions of people, including children. Shell continued the partnership with the Nazis in the years after the retirement of Sir Henri and even after his death. It was money generated on Shell forecourts around the world, profiteering from cartel oil prices, that funded the Nazi party and saved it from financial collapse. Evidence about Shell's Nazi connections can be found in extracts from "A History of Royal Dutch Shell" Volumes 1 and 2 authored by historians paid by Shell, who had unrestricted access to Shell archives. There are 67 pages in total, so takes some time to download.

Photograph (full size here) shows a Swastika flag flying at the head office of Royal Dutch Petroleum, 30 Carel van Bylandtlaan, The Hague, during the Nazi occupation of the in World War II (From Image Database Hague Municipal)

Sir Henri Deterding, the founder of the Royal Dutch Shell Group - known as "The Most Powerful Man in the World" - who became an ardent Nazi and financial supporter of Hitler and the Nazi party.

SHELL ANIMAL EXPERIMENTS

SHELL IP PIRACY

Reading between the lines in various legal documents, it seems that the allegations are that after the technology in question had been disclosed to a Shell company in the USA, the information was passed to Shell in the Netherlands in breach of confidentiality. And Royal Dutch Shell subsequently exploited the technology without payment or credit to the company holding the rights; Newton Research Partners. The inference seems to be that Twister B.V. was founded by Shell partly on trade secrets stolen from Bloom/Newton.

WEBSITE INFORMATION

DISCLAIMER: This is not a Shell website nor is it officially endorsed by or affiliated with Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Originally co-founded by the late Alfred Donovan and his son John, it is now operated by John, Shell's "No.1 Enemy", aided by an expert team, with invaluable support from retired Shell senior executives and officials as guest contributors and leaked information from Shell insiders.(JOHN DONOVAN, WEBSITE OWNER)For nearly a decade, we have operated globally under the Royal Dutch Shell Plc top level domain name, dealing on Shell’s reluctant behalf with job applications, business proposals, Shell pension enquiries, shareholder enquiries, complaints, invitations to speak at conferences, an approach from the Dutch Defence Ministry and even terrorist threats. All meant for Shell. Prospect magazine has aptly described this website as being:"An open wound for Shell":WIPO proceedings by Shell to seize the domain name failed.NO SUBSCRIPTION CHARGES: All of our watchdog activities monitoring Royal Dutch Shell, including operating this website, are carried out on a non-profit basis. Any advertising revenues generated are used to recover and/or defray operational costs. We are a news aggregator and original content website. All information is available free for educational and research purposes. SHELL TACIT ENDORSEMENT: WHAT A WELL INFORMED SHELL OFFICIAL SAID ABOUT US:
"John and Alfred Donovan well known in UK/Hague. They perceive Shell played them and so have made it their mission to embarrass,belittle and criticize Shell, which they do quite well. Their website, royaldutchshellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out."
WARNING TO SHELL EMPLOYEES: Shell Global Affairs Security "CAS") is spying on Shell employees globally trying to trace who is visiting, posting, or leaking information to this website from Shell premises. Threats, including death threats, have allegedly been made against conscience driven Shell whistleblowers supplying us with information. The worlds biggest leak of employee details as part of a claimed corporate revolution by 116 Shell employees, suggest the espionage operation, threats and draconian litigation have not been entirely successful in cutting off the supply of information to this website. The insider leaks had already cost Shell billions on the Sakhalin Energy project and the loss of SEIC Deputy Chairman, David Greer.We publish our own carefully researched articles about Shell e.g. "How Royal Dutch Shell saved Hitler and the Nazi Party".MEDIA COVERAGE: Prospect Magazine, The Sunday Times, and The Guardian, have all published major articles about us: "Rise of the Gripe Site";"Two men and a website mount vendetta against Shell' and "92-year-old's website leaves oil giant Shell-shocked”. SHELL PETROL STATION images displayed in the website header panel are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Information on copyright issues here.
John Donovan can be contacted at [email protected]

SHELL’S $500,000 WEDDING GIFT TO CORRUPT BRUNEI ROYAL FAMILY

EXTRACT FROM ASIAN JOURNAL ARTICLE IN LIST OF LINKS BELOW: "Fireworks will light up the sky for three nights. The local unit of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has donated 500,000 Brunei dollars (US$292,400; euro 243,700) for the display, and for cultural events to be hosted by popular performers from Malaysia."

BILL CAMPBELL WHISTLEBLOWER EMAIL TO MP’S

IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS:

THIS IS WHAT IT SAID:

Subject: This could be the most important whistleblower email you have ever received.

Some unfortunate Royal Dutch Shell workers have already lost their lives. More lives are at stake.

My name is Bill Campbell. I am a former Group Auditor of Shell International. I am writing to you on a matter of conscience in an effort to avert the inevitability of another major accident in the North Sea. The consequences could potentially impact on families in many constituencies, including your own.

As Royal Dutch Shell and the Health & Safety Executive would acknowledge, I am an expert on safety matters relating to offshore oil and gas platforms. In 1999, I was appointed by Shell to lead a safety audit on the Brent Bravo platform. The audit revealed a platform management culture that basically gave a higher priority to production than the safety of Shell employees. To our astonishment we discovered that a "Touch F*** All" policy was in place. Worse still, safety records were routinely falsified and repairs bodged.

I personally brought the shocking situation to the attention of senior management including Malcolm Brinded, the then Managing Director of Shell Exploration & Production. I revealed that ESDV leak-off tests were purposely falsified, not once but many times and that Brent Bravo platform management had admitted responsibility for the dangerous practices being followed. In response to my team ringing alarm bells, management pledged to rectify the serious problems which had been uncovered.

When I later complained that the pledges were not being kept, I was removed from my oversight function.

Four years later, a massive gas leak occurred on the platform. Two workers lost their lives. I have no doubt at all that the inaction of the relevant Asset Manager, the General Manager, the Oil Director and Malcolm Brinded, contributed in some part to the unlawful killing of two persons on Brent Bravo in September 2003.

Shell subsequently pleaded guilty to breaches of the HSE regulations and a record-breaking £900,000 fine was imposed. I thought this would bring about a real change in policy to put the emphasis on safety.

Unfortunately I was wrong. Although I supplied the evidence related to 1999, and the fact that there had been a collapse in controls of integrity from 1999 to 2003 on all 16 of Shell's North Sea offshore installations covered in a post fatality integrity review to the HSE for review by the Procurator Fiscal, none of this evidence was presented before the Sheriff at the subsequent Inquiry. The situation is explained in a letter to the Procurator Fiscal and the Sheriff (on 24th February 2007).

Shell management has engaged in spin to try to pretend that it is getting to grips with its safety problem. However, its atrocious safety record - the worst in the North Sea in terms of accidental deaths and absolute number of enforcement actions – tells a different story. This fact has resulted in a number of newspaper articles.

I have had meetings with senior Shell people including its CEO Mr. Jeroen van der Veer. I regret to say that I have found him to be economical with the truth. He prefers to support cover-up and deceit rather than confronting the underlying problems. Brinded is now Executive Director of Shell Exploration & Production. He believes in burying evidence.

My family and friends would probably prefer me to give up on this matter and enjoy my retirement after so many years working for Shell.

However, by writing to every MP in the UK, no one can ever say that I did not do my best to avert an inevitable further major accident event in the North Sea. When it happens (I pray that I am wrong) I will make this warning communication available to the media together with the vast amount of evidence in my possession.

At least my conscience is clear. I have done everything possible to ring the alarm bells about Shell management and its unscrupulous attitude to the safety of its employees.

Yours sincerely
Bill Campbell

ENDS

(Malcolm Brinded and Jeroen van der Veer are no longer with Shell. The Oil Director referred to in the email is Chris Finlayson, who left Shell to become Chief Executive of British Gas before being fired - his photo immediately below)

SHELL RESERVES FRAUD

SIR PHILIP WATTS, THE GROUP CHAIRMAN OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL GROUP, FORCED TO RESIGN IN 2004

Shell’s reputation was destroyed in 2004 after FIVE consecutive cuts to its hydrocarbon reserves covering 55% of its total reserves. US and UK financial regulators imposed $150 million in fines on Shell for securities fraud. Shell was also rocked by class action lawsuits.Sir Philip Watts
and Walter van de Vijver (whose headcut images appear courtesy of The Wall Street Journal) were among the Shell executives forced to resign. More details at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: The Shell reserves scandal brought about
the end of the Royal Dutch Shell Group in its original form as an Anglo-Dutch partnership.
Shell Transport & Trading Co and Royal Dutch Petroleum were unified into a single Dutch owned company - Royal Dutch Shell Plc.
Sir Philip turned to religion and is now a very wealthy priest after receiving a payoff/pension package from Shell reportedly worth $18.5 million. Walter van de Vijver in contrast was the victim of a sadistic sacking by his Shell senior management backstabbing colleagues.

by John Donovan

Displayed below are some of the spectacular promotional campaigns my company Don Marketing created for Shell in the 1980s and 1990s. This was before the series of SIX high court actions we brought against Shell for stealing ideas (4) and for defamation (2) - all settled by Shell. This website is a permanent response by me to the malicious underhand tactics, including treachery, espionage and intimidation, used by Shell during and after the bouts of litigation. More information is printed at the foot of this column.
MORE DETAILS: After a solicitor acting for Shell threatened to make the litigation "drawn out and difficult" with the intention of draining the resources of a financially weaker opponent, my late father (Alfred Donovan) and I decided to mount a wide-ranging campaign as a counter-measure. We jointly founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, which nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined. We regularly conducted ethical surveys involving up to 1500 Shell petrol stations. All responses were opened and authenticated by an independent solicitor who supplied Affidavits confirming the results. In whole page announcements in trade magazines (examples above) we challenged Shell to commission and publish the resuits of independent research asking the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. Shell never took up the invitation. Instead it asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to investigate our Shell surveys. No problems were found. The head-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.

SHELL CONTROVERSIES

selection of memorable warnings/articles/images associated with the controversial track record of Royal Dutch Shell.

WARNING: DO NOT DISCLOSE YOUR IDEAS TO SHELL GameChanger OR SHELL Ideas360 WITHOUT TAKING EVERY POSSIBLE PRECAUTION. Shell management has ample funds to pay for intellectual property but prefers to steal it from small businesses and in our experience, gives its full backing to dishonest managers willing to do its bidding. We have sued Shell repeatedly in the High Court for the theft of our Intellectual Property. It is doubtful if anyone can match our dire experience in dealing with this ruthless unscrupulous serial poacher of other parties ideas. Expect threats, legal machinations and sinister action from Shell and its spooks if you object to having your ideas stolen.

Some years ago extensive documentary evidence was brought to the attention of Malcolm Brinded above, when he was Chairman of Shell UK, proving beyond any doubt that Shell executives had conspired to rig a tender for a major contract. A number of innocent firms were deliberately lured into signing confidentiality agreements and disclosing Intellectual Property to Shell under false pretences, in a carefully contrived plot. The firm which was awarded the contract never took part in the tender. One objective of the Machiavellian plan was to stop/delay IP trade secrets owned by the participants in the tender from being disclosed to Shell's rivals. This was achieved by outright deception, without paying a cent to the firms involved, who wrongly believed they were participating in an honest tender. Instead of sacking the ring leader, AJL - who had a personal relationship with the firm which miraculously won the race in which it never ran - Shell senior directors, including Brinded, gave AJL their full backing. Some of the Shell executives involved, including for example, Tim Hannagan, still hold high positions inside Shell - in his case, Global Brand and Visual Identity Manager. If Shell does not accept that this is a true, provable account of what happened, then it should sue for libel. How on earth is such predatory conduct compatible with Shell's claimed business principles?